News Notes Mid-Atlantic April 2007

The Bay Bridge Boat Show brings together boats, both new and brokerage, boating equipment and services together in time to shop before the new boating season on the Chesapeake Bay.

The annual spring in-water boat show will take place April 26 to 28 at the Bay Bridge Marina at the eastern end of the Chesapeake BayBridge.

Featured will be hundreds of new and late-model brokerage powerboats, from motor yachts to fishing boats and trailerables to sailing dinghies and inflatables; scores of displays of boating equipment and accessories, from engines to electronics and boat lifts to foul weather gear; and a range of boating related services, from finance and insurance to magazines to boating instruction.

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New activities this year will include seminars like Diesel Engine Basics or fishing clinics for women and children as well as knot-tying for kids.

North Carolina builder’s boat is named a favorite

The Neville 47 trawler was launched last fall and promptly won the first Soundings People’s Choice Award at Trawler Fest in Solomon’s Island, Md. Now Custom Steel Boats of Merritt, N.C., is experiencing déjà vu.

At the January 2007 Trawler Fest awards ceremony in Stuart, Fla., the 47-foot steel trawler was honored again with the People’s Choice Award.

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“This is a very prestigious award in trawler circles,” said Doug Coupar, of Authentic Yachts, the Annapolis-based trawler dealer.

To decide the award winner, the crowd of trawler enthusiasts who attend are polled and asked to vote on their favorite boat at Trawler Fest’s semi-annual boat show. The award is considered a critical review by the buying public and an acid test of a new-boat introduction.

Founded in 1981, Custom Steel Boats produces custom yachts in steel and aluminum. The Neville 47 is one of several models built by Custom Steel Boats and marketed by Neville Trawlers in Annapolis. The Neville 47 weighs nearly 95,000 pounds, and is designed for long distance travel of more than 4,000 nautical miles.

$3M upgrade OK’d at Baltimore marina

The city of Baltimore has approved $3 million in dock improvements at the Inner Harbor Marina.

The city plans to replace docks with floating concrete piers, officials told the Baltimore Business Journal. Updates include longer and wider berths to accommodate larger vessels.

The city will also install a 900-foot walkway along the marina.

The project is expected to be complete this spring.

Missing Maryland boater turns up in unlikely place

The Maryland Natural Resources Police continue their investigation into an incident that started as a report of a Vienna man missing in the ChoptankRiver and being located hours later in Trappe.

The afternoon of Jan. 21, it was reported to police that Antonio Jermaine McCoy Sr., 33, and another male individual were operating a 20-foot vessel in the area of the Hambrooks Light near Cambridge. The vessel ran aground and McCoy entered the water to push the vessel free. As the vessel started to move, McCoy reportedly disappeared into the water.

Authorities were called to the scene and searched the area until dark when the search was ended, with plans to resume the search the following morning.

At 11:42 that night, Talbot County Emergency Management Agency received a call for a disoriented man matching McCoy’s description, at a convenience store in Trappe. TalbotCountyEMS transported the individual to EastonMemorialHospital, where he was treated and admitted with non-life-threatening injuries. NRP responded to the hospital and confirmed the man was McCoy.

The Mariners’ Museum president and CEO Timothy J. Sullivan recently announced fund-raising efforts had successfully reached the 2:1 matching grant set by media executive and Museum Trustee Emeritus Frank Batten Sr., adding a total of $6 million to the $30 million USS Monitor Center Capital Campaign.

Hundreds of donors contributed during the three-year challenge period, helping meet the $4 million goal needed in order to receive Batten’s $2 million pledge. Currently $27 million in cash and pledges have been received toward the ultimate $30 million capital campaign goal. More than $2 million in other related gifts and improvements for the new center have also been received.

In 2003 The Mariners’ Museum announced a $2 million 2:1 challenge grant from Batten. This challenge launched the $10 million dollar private sector portion of the campaign. For every $2 the museum raised from a corporation, foundation or individual, Batten provided $1.

“I am delighted that my challenge for The Mariners’ Museum’s Monitor fund drive has been met,” Batten says. Batten served on The Mariners’ Museum’s board of trustees from 1995 through 2003. He is the retired chairman and CEO of Landmark Communications, Inc., which publishes The Virginian-Pilot newspaper. Landmark Communications owns Dominion Enterprises, which publishes Soundings.

On March 9, exactly 145 years after the historic clash between the Civil War ironclads USS Monitor and CSS Virginia, The Mariners’ Museum and its partners at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will open the doors to the USS Monitor Center. This new $30 million, 63,500-square-foot facility will feature exhibits, conservation labs and offer historians rich resources for research. www.marinersmuseum.org

Sparkman & Stephens names new president

Greg Matzat has been named president of the renowned New York yacht design firm Sparkman & Stephens.

Matzat, who has served as the firm’s chief naval architect and executive vice president, is only the sixth person to hold the top title in the firm’s 78-year history. As part of the new S&S watch, Bruce Johnson, the firm’s chief designer, has been promoted to executive vice president.

Matzat joined S&S in 1989 after graduating from Webb Institute with a degree in naval architecture and marine engineering. He had completed two internships at the firm and was hired as a naval architect dealing with all aspects of sailboat and motoryacht design. Originally specializing in structures, he expanded his skills into the areas of hydrodynamics. His expertise in structures led him to work with S&S’s early efforts to design carbon fiber masts for large yachts. He was appointed chief naval architect in 1997.

Matzat says he envisions steady, measured growth as he steers the multifaceted yacht design, brokerage, insurance and marine engineering firm forward. His near-term goals include hiring specialists in the area of client services and opening at least one new satellite office later this year, in Newport, R.I., in a building owned by the InternationalYachtRestorationSchool.

How toxic is Chesapeake Bay?

In a new online report, NOAA announced that the major portion of the Chesapeake Bay, called the “mainstem,” has minimal sediment contamination but that there are localized areas of the Bay showing elevated contaminant levels.

Researchers from the NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science collected sediment samples from the Chesapeake Bay between 1998 and 2001 to determine where and how severely the sediments are contaminated by toxic chemicals. The comprehensive contaminant report, “Magnitude and Extent of Contaminated Sediment and Toxicity in Chesapeake Bay,” covers the entire mainstem of the Chesapeake Bay, along with its major western tributaries — the Patuxent, Potomac, Rappahannock, York and James rivers.

Toxic contaminants enter the bay from these and other tributaries as well as from a variety of other sources, including windblown dust, storm water runoff, spills and direct discharge.

NOAA’s study examined a variety of toxic contaminants found in Chesapeake Bay, including metals, Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs), persistent chlorinated pesticides and Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons. NOAA scientists also studied the organisms living in the sediments (also called the benthos) within the research area, to determine which animals live where. Scientists then conducted laboratory studies to assess how the contaminants affect estuarine organisms. The report summarizes where contamination exists and the correlation between benthic community impacts, observed toxicity and contaminant levels.

Ten years ago, two amateur sailors created a race from Charleston to Bermuda, inspired by their enjoyment of time spent on the water, and what’s now known as C2B is going strong to this date.

Since that seminal edition, this biennial bluewater dash to the isle of the onions has been staged four other times. The sixth edition of C2B is scheduled to begin May 18. “We’ve made a number of important enhancements to the format of the race, and to the social side, and we’re already seeing positive results in the way of increased early entries,” says Brad Van Liew, executive director of the South Carolina Maritime Foundation.

The race will start right in the harbor, amid the ongoing activities of the foundation’s annual Maritime Festival. The race will start with Tall Ships Charleston as a backdrop. Organizers expect upwards of a dozen classic tall ships in the harbor for that weekend. Competitors in the C2B will sail 777 miles to St. Georges Bermuda, where they’ll be welcomed by the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club and Bermuda Tourism. All participating yachts will be equipped with a satellite tracking system to guarantee regular position updates and enhanced safety.

The race is open to any seaworthy sailing vessel 30 feet and longer. For information visit www.charlestonto bermuda.com.